Natsuiro Kiseki – 04

I’ve made a big thing about the yuri vibes in this show, but this week they went completely in the other direction. So Yuka likes Takashi-kun – her cousin, as it turns out – enough to cutely panic when he appears. The only problem? He likes Saki. That problem + a conference around the big rock brings entertaining consequences.

I can’t say the basis of this episode was original. More than anything, it reminded me of the shows I used to watch on Nickelodeon as a kid. Sabrina the Teenage Witch, anyone? I’m sure they did this one there. Still, originality isn’t the end all, be all basis by which enjoyment is measured. Even if it has been done before, I still really enjoyed this episode. Yuka-in-love was really cute, and the friendship vibes we got between her and Rin were really sweet as well. D’awww!

Really, I feel for Yuka a lot. How many of you have been in the situation where the person you like has eyes for someone else? I would wager the third parry usually isn’t a close friend like it was here, but the situation is still quite common, so it resonates quite well. In Yuka’s wistful face I saw my younger self, so her wish to be the person she needed to be to get the guy she wanted was understandable. Who else hasn’t wanted to change who they are to get the guy / girl of their dreams? I can’t blame her for that, even if it would only give her happiness for one day…

In other news, as much fun as it was to see Yuka enjoying her new body, the other girls had some fun stuff to show as well. Angry Saki (in Yuka’s body) was quite amusing, especially with how well Tomatsu Haruka switched from her happy-go-lucky voice to sell the role. I also really enjoyed when Natsumi was talking to Yuka (in Saki’s body). Though the yuri vibes decreased this week, they didn’t disappear completely, as Natsumi was definitely throwing out some flags for one of the Four Seasons idols. There’s still hope, yuri fans!

But of all the non-Yuka girls, Rinko (in Natsumi’s body) was the sweetest. Rinko is a fantastic friend. She’s throwing out flags that could be construed as yuri, but whether that’s true or not, the fact remains that she’s a phenomenal friend. Yuka’s wish is her wish…that kind of unconditional friendship is rare. Would that we all were lucky enough to have a friend like Rinko.

Of course, Yuka’s date had to end on a tragic note, one way or another. Even if she got the guy in Saki’s body, she would have lost him when she was back in her own. Thus, Rinko’s interruption was the best thing that could have happened. Part of me wishes it had been Saki (in Yuka’s body) who interrupted them, because I think that would have helped Yuka out with Takashi-kun more, but this better showed the strength of Rinko’s friendship, since she was willing to get in the way even though she said she wouldn’t. Wait, I thought I wanted Yuka to get with Rinko?? I don’t know…excited and happy Yuka is just so infectious, I want whatever will keep her all cheerful!

Either way, we’ve gotten a few Saki & Natsumi episodes, and now a Yuka one. Next up is Rinko! Not much is clear other than the fact that she’ll be sick, but I do know that any loss of faith I suffered from last episode has been restored. Natsuiro Kiseki isn’t breaking new ground, but I’m still enjoying it. Can’t wait for more!

tl;dr:@StiltsOutLoud – Body switch plot? I feel like I’m watching a #Nickelodeon. In a good way, though! Ganbatte Yuka! You’re a good friend, Rin. #Natsuiro_Kiseki

Random thoughts:

Natsumi and Rinko switching places was very random. If I had to guess, maybe Rinko wished for it when she reached for Natsumi’s hand? So that she could be closer to Yuka for the duration of her wish, that is. That’s a total guess, though. The only thing we can say for sure is that only one person is required to make a wish. This can only lead to more fun >:D

I liked the subtle touches that illustrated how the girls had switched places. Takagaki Ayahi going into her super-genki-mode voice was an obvious one, but how Natsumi’s face got all chill when Rinko was inside was a nice touch.

So far, every episode of every anime I’ve watched this week has been great. Mind you, that’s not too many – I’m still behind on my shows this season – but I’ve really enjoyed the ones I’ve seen. Maybe I just finally caught up on my sleep? I don’t know. Either way, could not be happier! Keep bringing on the home runs, my Japanese brothers and sisters. I’m ready for more!

I do feel for Yuka but I don’t like how she goes ahead with the date in Saki’s body anyway as well. And yeah, judging from her words and reactions at the end of the episode, I think Rin has a thing for Yuka… or maybe I’m just getting my hope up. >_>

True, Yuka was pretty self-centered…but then again, they are kids. I know I was a self-centered little bastard when I was younger, so I don’t expect them to be any different. Certainly a fair complaint, though.

Finally, ha ha ha! I’ve waited 5-60 years (i don’t know how long it was, thus the rather wide range of time….) to hear you to say this. Eh, you’re not some 70-old retiree in Florida, are you? You are, aren’t you, I totally got you now. You dirty old man.

Lol, I am not. Just old enough to be able to know how stupid I was as a kid, though not yet old enough to realize how stupid I probably am now. I’ll probably only figure that out when I am an old man. Such is life, ne? ;)

wait, so who’s Yuka again? I’m so confused with all the body-switching. Is that the blonde looker? Wait, that’s Saki.

BTW, did voice actress change as their bodies or did they just voice-act af if they were different characters? My money is on that it’s the latter. I can always sense a slight difference (i.e when Saki’s voice-actress voicing the green haired one, the tone was a little different from the original green haired one. You can’t fool my ears~~!).

Remember that this anime is released by Sunrise. AFAIK, Sunrise doesn’t do yuri, and the only yuri-esque scenes that has in any Sunrise-anime are censored (e.g. Mai-HiME and the censored kiss between Natsuki and Shizuru). In short, don’t expect any more yuri or another types of homosexual undertones in this anime.

hey, hey, so is in our “America’s heartland” states!! wink wink nudge nudge. “unofficially”. ahem ahem. The joke never gets old. I suppose they just aren’t that many people within miles and miles in some of those regions and with gas price for their humvees and muscle trucks going up towards half of what Europe pays, one has to give some slacks, ah ha ha ha ha~.

Not that anybody asked, but personally I don’t get this screwing brother/sister/cousin/uncle/aunt/mother/father/grand-mother(!) thing. They’d always look way way too similar to me, more or less, and I like myself -thank you very much indeed- but not that much~~! I always go for exotic stuff. It’s the mother nature telling me to spread and diversify the gene pool. Oopsy daisy, said too much, maybe?

I am so scary for a love triangle happend.
In this case, in this serie, the het is good like the yuri, in other show maybe not but yuri undertones is better en Natsuiro, because the girls rule and the boys suck.

I think the yuri flags are really going up with Rinko’s feelings for Yuka.

She joked about kissing throughout the episode but when it came down to the last second did she step in because she thought it was wrong to force Saki’s body to kiss someone she didn’t like or could she not stand Yuka kissing someone even if it wasn’t with her own body?

Or maybe because it was just plain wrong to use Saki’s body for that. Once the switch where’s off it would be Saki who would have to deal with the repercussions of that kiss with Takashi, which could have had a negative impact on the girls friendship.

I thought they did a really good job playing the original personality in a different character’s skin so to speak. I nearly died when Natsumi/Rin made the “chuu” noise.
Also I really like the Random Thoughts format at the end of the post, gets me thinking on things i don’t necessarily see. Good job Stilts!

Natsumi and Rinko switching places was very random. If I had to guess, maybe Rinko wished for it when she reached for Natsumi’s hand? So that she could be closer to Yuka for the duration of her wish, that is. That’s a total guess, though. The only thing we can say for sure is that only one person is required to make a wish. This can only lead to more fun >:D

What do you mean that’s all random? You said it yourself, Stilts, that this episode had all the yuri vibes. lol

With my yuri-goggles on, I would wager that in order to be closer to Yuka (in Saki’s body), Rin wished she could swap with Natsumi (who’s of course close to Saki) so she could be with Yuka 24/7.

The yuri rock duly granted that wish, since it also allowed Natsumi to keep Saki (in Yuka’s body) company. :)

HET IS EW! ‘NUFF SAUCE!
(Goggles off…)
Ok so that went a biiiiit overboard. Besides Het is good from time to time(big fan of ToumaxMikoto here). Yuri isn’t everything and this YukaxTakashixSaki added a bit of flavor to the show.

I liked this episode. The contrast of their personalities when changed was interesting. It seems like the direction is to be a “growing up” slice of life anime using the magic stone to create scenerios

That question and your propensity to type in SMS text speak means you’re probably way too young to even know what Stilts is talking about. I’m pretty sure Stilts is referring to the TV series rather than the comic book, or Stilts would be much older. lol

PS D-Lan: Google and Wikipedia are your friends.

PPS: Next time, try and type full words rather than SMS txtspk. RC has no character limit, so type all you like.

you mean pigtails? Twintails and pigtails…. They are the same thing. If you are really nitpicking about things, one can say pigtails are shorter than twintails, but c’mon. It’s the same thing. Even wikipedia says so (you gotta believe whatever wikipedia says, wink wink nudge nudge). Stilts and pigtail fetish co. just don’t like the sound of pig something. So voila, a new term is born. That’s it. ha!